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The genius of canines

By Dick Jones

offtheporchmedia.com

Over the past few weeks, Cherie and I have been traveling across the country. I’ve written a lot about the scenery and the things we did that were fun, but I wanted to write a little about the dogs I saw and hunted over and how they were so impeccably trained.

I am a dog man and I’m proud of my Larry. He’s not perfect but still something of a kid. He does a lot of things, but none of them as well as the dogs I witnessed on our trip across the country. In his defense, those dogs focus on the same things every day.

At Pine Ridge in Clayton, Ala., we hunted over shorthairs, pointers and setters and every dog behaved like a pro. These dogs knew how to work birds. I know many who read these pages have never been in the field with a great pointing dog, but I assure you, it’s as impressive as being at a steeplechase and watching a magnificent horse do his work. In fact, I think it’s even more impressive because the dog is really who’s in control in a bird hunt.

Quail dogs use the tactics they learn to find birds and those who say dogs don’t think have never seen a good bird dog pin a covey down that’s trying to run from him and the guns. A good bird dog exhibits patience when the shooters miss, though you sometimes get a dirty look. At Pine Ridge, the pointer, Cowboy, located the same bird for us five times and we never did bag the bird. On the fifth miss, I decided the bird had some special mojo working for him and we called Cowboy off. He was ready to find that pesky quail one more time if he had to.

A good bird dog can be aware of so many things happening at one time and see things from their low vantage point the hunter and the guide miss. Last year, I wrote a story about Sam, a German Shorthair, who marked five birds and refused to leave the spot until he’d retrieved them all, even though his owner was about to punish him.

In Lake Charles, we hunted with a young blond Lab named Sassy. She was less than two years old, but she was a professional. She marked multiple birds, found cripples that sailed 200 yards across levees and rice fields, and even found a bird that had been dropped on one side of us on the levee, slipped past us and was well over 50 yards from where he was supposed to be.

In one season, she retrieved over 600 birds, losing less than a dozen. When hunting in a pit blind, she hides in a five-gallon bucket buried in the ground. When ducks are over the decoys, she hunkers her head down and freezes, moving only her eyes to track them.

In the Arizona Desert during the Ken Middleton Memorial Youth Hunt, I watched as Jay Amos worked Razz. The desert out west has a lot less cover than we have here in the east and the dogs out there adapt. Desert bird dogs seem to sneak more than eastern dogs. The thin cover makes birds more nervous and these dogs have learned not to push the bird too far.

The wind is always blowing in the desert and it is amazing how a dog can pick up scent when the bird is not upwind of him. Watching the reaction of these desert dogs when they catch scent is amazing. With a 20 mile an hour wind, they lock up and look straight at the bird, even though he’s 30 yards away. Their dedication to their work is amazing. The desert is covered with cactus and at the end of each hunt, it takes several minutes to pick out all the pricks, but they don’t even seem to notice.

The part of this that’s really amazing is how they aren’t just one dimensional dogs. Every dog I mentioned lives a social life with humans and other dogs. They deal with kids that pull their tails, other dogs, travel and the boredom that comes with being a working dog waiting for the next gig.

My Lab, Larry, will be four this year. He’s nowhere near as capable and sophisticated in dealing with humans, places or birds as his predecessor, Ernie, but I marvel at how much he can do and understand. Even for those of us who don’t own a dog, our lives without dogs would be much different. Bird dogs are just one special brand of working dog. There are farm and herding dogs, military and police dogs, bomb dogs and drug dogs, and service dogs who give mobility and function to thousands of Americans.

It’s true that there are a lot of dogs who do nothing but lie on the couch with their owners. That doesn’t make those dogs dumb, it just makes them under-educated. It’s a proven fact that people who have a dog in their life live longer, happier lives. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I meet more dogs I like than people and when someone tells me they don’t like dogs, it takes a while for me to trust them. If you’ve got a dog in your family, do us both a favor and spend a little time today rubbing his ears. It’ll be good for both of you.

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High Point DU Banquet Ducks Unlimited has been working hard for conservation since 1938. I’d venture to say that without their efforts, our waterfowl populations wouldn’t be anything near what they are today. Saturday, you get a chance to do something good for a great conservation group and have a fine evening at the same time. The High Point Ducks Unlimited Banquet will be Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Showplace in Downtown High Point. Tickets are available for $60 single and $80 couples. The social hour begins at 5:30. For tickets, call Trent Nelson at (336) 442-2689, Rob Sloop at (336) 905-0499 or Jesse McKenzie at (336) 847-3602.

Dick Jones is an award winning freelance writer living in High Point. He’s a member of the board of directors of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association. He writes about hunting, fishing, dogs, and shooting for several N.C. newspapers as well as national magazines and websites. He has fished both fresh and salt water most of his life. If you’d like to have him speak to your group, he can be reached at offtheporch52@yahoo.com or offtheporchmedia.com